In Business News: Industry and Trade Minister confirms that Czech Republic
will try and further expand nuclear energy production; Rusatom Overseas
signs memorandum with potential subcontractors on Temelín; Škoda Auto
sees significant increase in sales in foreign markets; One-third of Czechs
will be unable to save a single crown a month this year, poll suggests; and
Czech nanotechnology firms make mark in Japan.

Industry minister: country should rely heavily on nuclear power

Martin Kuba, photo: archive of the Czech Government
The Czech Republic will insist on the expanded use of nuclear energy and
will seek a location for the possible construction of a third nuclear
source, Industry and Trade Minister Martin Kuba stated in Prague on
Thursday at the international energy forum. The location for a third
nuclear site will be sought in addition to the completion of the nuclear
power plant Temelín in southern Bohemia, and the extension of the service
life of the Dukovany plant in southern Moravia until the year 2035, the
minister said. The Industry and Trade Ministry is drafting a strategy that
will set conditions for the Czech power sector for another 25 or 30 years.
Plans should be completed in mid-2012 and are expected to outline
conditions for plants which will be expected to cover more than half of
domestic power consumption. New reactors at Temelín are to be fully
completed and operational by the year 2025. In addition to pushing nuclear
power, Mr Kuba stressed that the Czech Republic would not support renewable
energy sources unless they produced power at a reasonable price.

Temelín nuclear power plant
In related news, the Russian company Rusatom Overseas from the Rosatom
group signed a memoranda of understanding with ten Czech and Slovak firms
this week on possible future cooperation during the completion of the
Temelín nuclear power plant. The Czech and Slovak companies will become
subcontractors to Rosatom's subsidiaries Atomstroyexport and Gidropress if
the Russian firms end up wining the tender. Atomstroyexport and Gidropress
are taking part in a consortium, together with the Czech company Škoda JS.
Under the proposal, Czech companies would also have the opportunity to
participate in the development of Russian firm' nuclear power plants around
the world. Among the companies planning to cooperate with the Russians are
the Czech firms I&C Energo, ETD Transformatory, Kabelovna Kabex and
others. The companies received a catalogue of 4,000 products and services
which Rosatom is looking for in the production of power plants. The value
of the project to complete Temelín has been estimated at between 200 and
300 billion crowns.

Škoda Auto sees significant increase in sales in foreign markets

Photo: archive of CRo 7 - Radio Prague
Czech car maker Škoda Auto raised consolidated profit by 82 percent to
16.1 billion crowns in 2011, and its sales grew by 15 percent to 252.6
billion, the company said at a press conference this week. Škoda already
announced in January it sold a record 879,200 cars last year. That
represents year-on-year growth of 15 percent. Its global market share
reached 1.4 percent. The highest growth last year was in Russia where
Škoda raised sales by 63 percent to 74,000 cars. Sales in India,
meanwhile, increased by 50% to 30,000 units and sales in China and Eastern
Europe went up by more than one-fifth. Škoda Auto sold 220,000 cars in
China and 34,300 cars in Eastern Europe. Sales in Western Europe grew by 9
percent to 362,000 cars and sales in Central Europe by 2 percent to 123,200
cars. In addition, the company created 1,850 new jobs last year it has
26,565 employees worldwide.

One-third of Czechs unable to save a single crown a month

One-third of Czechs will be unable to save a single crown a month this
year, compared to 38 percent last year, a survey by consumer loan provider
Home Credit has suggested. The number of people who were earlier able to
save higher amounts of money decreased as well. The numbers were released
this week. Growing prices of mandatory expenditures have had an impact on
households´ budgets, Home Credit said. On the other hand, the number of
Czechs who save up to 2.500 crowns per month grew. Home Credit conducted
the poll in the Czech Republic (as well as a similar one in Slovakia in
February); in the Czech Republic it relied on 468 respondents.

Nanotechnology firms make mark in Japan

Photo: Advanced Materials
According to recent reports, Czech firms have solidified their position on
the world market in nanotechnology, following the Nano tech international
trade fair held in Tokyo last month. It was the first appearance at the
fair by Czech companies; ten firms took part, with participation having
been organised by CzechInvest, and CzechTrade, with help from the Czech
Embassy in Japan. Industry observers have noted that Advanced Materials –
JTJ. Limited was judged by organisers as a firm with the greatest
potential for Japanese partners. The company reportedly has drawn interest
in Asia also in Mongolia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Malaysia. Advanced
Materials is a developer and producer of photo-catalytic coating materials.